[Comics] Are We in the New 90s?

[Kalmarvho]

Since we are complaining about the New 52:

• What the hell have they done with Tim Drake and Wally West?
• Did Stephanie Brown even exist?
• I remember Starfire mentioning Donna Troy. How the hell does she fit the new Wonder Woman mythos?
• Why is Cassie a THIEF, for crying out loud?!
• The Red Robin suit is mind numbingly ugly
• Why did they undo the most defining moment in Barbara Gordon's career?
• Before 52, why did they even BRING BRUCE BACK?!

Those are all rather minor problems that are symptomatic of a bigger issue: that editorial has no idea what it's doing.

On the other hand, this is what Dan Didio has to say about the concept of editorial mandate:

Let’s just discuss the role of the editor for one second. One expression that I find humorous is “editorial mandate.” I feel that expression gets thrown around a great deal. The role of the editor is to assemble and be responsible for whatever project they are in charge of. Whatever talent they hire, that is an editorial mandate. They choose to hire that talent. The amount of control they put on that talent, whether they allow them to work completely free of any editorial notes, or not, is an editorial mandate, because that’s what the editor chooses to do. If the editor decides to give notes, that’s an editorial mandate, because that’s what the editor chooses to do, because he or she, at the end of the day, is responsible for that position.

So anything that winds up on a page, whether a note is given, when a phone call is made – anything that is assembled on from any member of the talent – from the person that writes it, to the art team, to the colorist, to the letterer, to the people working on final production – it’s all editorially controlled. That is our job.

So when you say “editorial mandate,” please understand that whatever book you hold in your hand, at the end of the day, is there because of an editorial mandate to create that book. End of story.

I find it humorous because it gives the impression that no one is doing anything, other than trafficking paper. We are not in our positions to traffic paper. We are here to put out the best product possible, and everyone works very hard to do that. To say that we don’t do anything is an insult to every one of the members of my staff, and I prefer that everyone realize that, if a fan is holding a product in their hands, there is an editor in charge whose job it was to make sure that product reached them. That’s what our job is.

And how it’s assembled is the choice of the individuals who are working to the best of their ability as they are assembling that book.